There’s always a carrier. Sometimes the person knows they are carrying something, but other times, they are clueless. Maybe they sit with others at a meal or conversate after Bible study. Or they share the same shopping cart or keypad at the grocery store, one after the other. We may never know how something is transferred from the carrier to the next person, but what we do see are the effects.

This week, there was a carrier of the stomach bug among the volunteers at the pantry. People started showing signs as early as Wednesday afternoon, but others had no idea they were infected. Many volunteers also attended Wednesday evening activities or other weekly Bible studies. Between Wednesday night and Sunday morning, people were dropping like flies.

The stomach bug is highly contagious, living on surfaces for weeks and lingering in the air for up to two hours. Freezing temperatures don’t even phase this thing either. The more I read about the heartiness of this virus, the more I worried about how many people would potentially be infected by that one carrier at the pantry. It could spread exponentially if we weren’t careful.

Then I thought about the way I live. Are there parts of my life that are as contagious as this stomach bug? Is my excitement, creativity, inspiration, or faith at risk of running through people and impacting folks I never imagined would be influenced? Is my life contagious?

This week as many of us are recovering from the super-contagious stomach bug, I challenge each of us to think about the parts of our lives that should be contagious. Is it our faith? Our hope? Optimism? Persistence? Inspiration? Joy?

Let’s ask God to make the good in our lives as contagious as the stomach bug. And let’s share it on purpose with everyone we meet!